Month: October 2020

Spiritual Process Improvement

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Spiritual Process Improvement

 

Intro:

I spent over 36 years improving processes in the business world. Now He has me working on processes as they operate in the spiritual world. It is exactly the same but totally different. He has helped me develop a wonderful understanding of His grand design, some of the processes at work on earth and in heaven, and how to align with those processes to get better results. The following discussion shares some insights into how this works, some key process principles, and how you can lead a better life by aligning with them.

Proceess Improvement in the Spiritual world

Folks who work process improvement in a manufacturing environment have the advantage of being able to touch the product and observe the physical step by step process with their eyes. Folks who work business processes often claim it is harder to see the process; It sometimes takes a bit of imagination to see those processes as a sequence of steps with flow. The spiritual processes take even more imagination to envision, and they take inspiration to understand. 

Some aspects of the spiritual process are explicit in the bible, but others require insight. He tells us in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  And just as you are instructed to let the Lord lead you through life, I let Him lead me into an understanding of His kingdom and it has been a wonderful experience.

Just like in the physical world, there are process that control how things work. He has led me through development of dozens of process maps and flow diagrams to describe several aspects of His kingdom. I’m not sure any of those specific diagrams would help others, but they helped me understand His will, key principles that control its execution, forces that help it work better and those working against it.

Several Key Spiritual Process Principles

Building faith is a process

The Bible provides information about the kingdom in the form of stories, prominent characters, parables, commandments, and proverbs/psalms. Each piece has surface meaning when read, There are layers of meaning available to those who choose to objectively dig deeper.

We turn information into knowledge by choosing to study it, listen to others share what they have learned, choose to actively discuss it with others, and reflect on how it all fits together.

We turn knowledge into wisdom by reflecting on how our understanding fits with reality and then choosing how to apply that knowledge to our life.

This process requires an interaction between our free will and our brain; We have to choose to read/study, we have to choose to listen and discuss, and we have to choose to reflect. Without this purposeful choice to invest our discretionary personal energy we do not build a deep understanding.

This process accelerates with inspiration as soon as you ask the Lord for insight and open yourself to receive it. The word Inspiration describes something literal flowing in from the spirit. He has direct connections to your Mind and to your Heart. He will point you to sources of information as you start to seek it; He will help your mind organize the infomraiton and build useful images as you contemplate how it all fits together.

 We are designed with a receptor in our heart. This receptor resonates when you are contemplating a truth. It is our “knower”.  You know when you know that you know.

Looking beyond the surface and finding the deeper meaning in the bible is called “Having eyes to see”.

Receiving and accepting Gods inflow in your mind and in your heart is referred to in the bible as “having Ears to hear”.

Belief is formed when we know in our heart that something is true. Faith is formed when we choose to act on a Belief; Speaking or Doing.

The flow of value is a useful lens for the spiritual world.

Value is defined in terms of “Usefulness”; Things that provide a practival benefit.

The flow of value takes follows a basic equation of the form:   “Love” flowing through “Truth” generates “Usefulness” and then “Growth”.

Love is the source of power for all things. God is love (1 John 4:8).  God’s love is the power created the heavens and the earth. God’s love powers every breath you take.  

Truth is the structure necessary to convert Love into constructive action. Truth is the master craftsman that turned chaos into the heavens and the earth (Proverbs 8:30). Truth is structure, knowledge of right from wrong, wisdom and discernment. The opposite of Truth is Falsity.

Usefulness is the desired result; Goodness that allows someone to benefit and improve.  Our individual value comes by being useful to others; by doing Good works that benefit others.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (dishonor), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

This equation operates as a cycle,  the more you choose to flow Love through Truth to generate Usefulness, the stronger the flow becomes, and the more Love becomes available to flow into the next cycle; That is where we experience Growth. It is not a closed system; it is an expanding system. 

Free will is a really big deal and is key to the entire cycle.   In order to achieve the desired growth, You have to make a conscious choice to initiate the flow of love.  If you are forced to take the action, you are not vested in the entire cycle, and will not experience the growth to expand the cycle.  

Pushing truth without love creates resistance or animosity. This is a classic failure mode of highly committed folks who impose thier interpretation of truth on others rather than finding a compassionate way for otheers to discover the truth. 

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13)

The opposite of Truth is Falsity. Love operating through falsity creates a false impression of goodness, but will end with undesired consequences. Adding another layer of nice new pavement on top of a flawed roadbed will feel like progress but will spend a lot of money and just make deeper potholes.    

The opposite of Love is Hate.  Hate operating through falsity creates destruction.  Hitler hated the Jews, He propagated a falsity that they were an undesirable element of society and should be eliminated. That combination cost 6 million lives.  

You can tell if we are on the right track, The fruit of your labor will not lie.  If there is goodness flowing and growth, the Love was operating through Truth.  If not, either the Love or the Truth was not pure. 

Our job is to ensure our motivations are rooted in pure love.  Then make sure we have the Truth to convert that love into productive actions.  

There is a spiritual pull system.

Your spiritual development is pulled by the goodness of love. If you attempt to push you create waste.  If you push Truth without Love you become a zealot and force your version of doctrine on others; If you push Love without Truth you end up with well-intentioned efforts which are often counter-productive. It is only when you pull truth with the goodness of love that you get sustained flow of usefulness for others and the desired growth. In practical terms, people need to appreciate the goodness that can come from doing things which help others before they become receptive to discussion of spiritual truths. This becomes an interesting framework to view the world to see some of where/how/when we get off track

We live in an expansive system not a closed system.

 Each cycle of generating usefulness reinforces the process and makes more fuel available to further increase production of usefulness. The system continues to grow and expand as it operates.

 

Political Hot Topics

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Political Hot Topics 

How to cut through the noise: Pursue Data, Conclusions, Actions, Results    

There are several hot topics which dominate the political landscape. Engagements on these topics often quickly devolve into high energy emotional yelling from side and they end up summarily dismissing the other party. We must move beyond polarized yelling and find the path to discussion if we are to break the cycle and move forward. 

I have come to understand the mechanisms that routinely drive this intentionally counterproductive process. See my post on Post-Modernism and Collectivism as the threat to western society for more on why and how this happens. 

I have learned several methods to avoid the trap of those mechanisms and have a productive conversation.  By understanding how this works, we can begin to notice the mechanisms in use, look for the false assumptions or flawed logic being pushed, and question them in a way to enable discussion.

The people pushing one side of these hot button issues are systematically gaining ground in our society: in popular culture, in the media, in entertainment, in political office, in big government, in big industry, in the judiciary, and in academia.  This movement is quickly approaching the tipping point. It is getting harder and harder to question the path we are on and push back if you disagree.  Those that do so and have a high enough profile become the victims of viscous attacks on their integrity, their business, their personal property, and their lives. At some point, very soon, it will not be possible, and our survival will depend on conforming to their agenda; at that point we will be locked into the inevitable downward spiral of authoritarian control.

The time for silence is behind us. We each need to stand up and push back while it is still possible to do so.

You may not convince the other party that your position is right, but you might be able to help them see that you are a human with compassion and genuine interest in the topic.  You might be able to plant a seed of doubt that some aspect of the narrative they are enthusiastically advocating may not ring true.

Bellow are several topics broken down with my best understanding of how to move them forward.       

:…avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”(2 Tim 2:23-26)

“…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Climate change -vs- Science Denier

  • The common question is do you agree with “Climate Change” – and if your do not immediately and enthusiastically say yes and you can’t wait for the green new deal.. you are dismissed as a science denier.
  • The established narrative is:  Mankind is destroying the planet; Climate change is an existential threat and will destroy us all 12 years unless we act dramatically and immediately; the only acceptable solution is to achieve carbon neutrality by reworking everything in society to drastically reduce energy consumption and simultaneously convert to entirely renewable sources of supply; this is a absolute panic and we must act immediately, the only way to accomplish this unprecedented scale of change on this panic timeline is to committal all resources into government control.   
  • So in order to break through the narrative you must break it into its pieces: 
  • Yes – I agree the climate is changing… It always is changing, and always will be.
  • Yes – I agree mankind is contributing to the change to some extent – it is not clear how much
  • Yes – there is a study claiming 97+% of climate scientists agree that man’s contribution is “significant”.  This study reviewed studies published by climate change researchers and 97% of them had reached a conclusion that there was likely a significant relationship between the activities of mankind and climate change. It did not in any way attempt to quantify the magnitude of that relationship. 
  • I understand no one has been able to pin down just how much ( a little, some, a lot, most, all)
  • There is great disagreement on what effect mans contribution will have on temperatures in the future
  • Historic models have overpredicted the effect we be experiencing now; so more work is needed.
  • Science shows that the projected temperatures are within the historic experience for the planet
  • There is significant difference of opinion about what would be appropriate for us to do at this point and when we need to do it. 
  • Two angles to work it:  Reduce the production of CO2,  find ways to mitigate the effects of warming as they manifest.
  • The US continues to make good progress reducing CO2 emissions
  • Other countries are contributing significantly more emissions and are not effectively reducing it..
  • Why back out of the Paris accord?  The Paris accord put disproportionate burden on the US and did not engage the largest producers. 
  • The green new deal is offered as the solution for the US- It is partially intended to reduce consumption by rebuilding our houses and commercial buildings, shifting to e-cars, eliminating dairy, to eliminate CO2 emissions and partly to convert the entire economy to government control.
  • est, or should we immediately disrupt life as we know it and commit all of our resources to a government run program to reinvent our society and our lives.
  • The appropriate discussion needs to be about how serious is the actual threat, how soon will it manifest, and what actions are possible and appropriate to optimize our long term existence. The fact that the narrative of climate change invokes absolute urgency and imposes the radical Green New Deal as the solution, it is not unreasonable to expect that we understand the true urgency and robustly contemplate the range of options before merely embracing the narrative of panic response.There are dozens of well documented miracles which occurred during the founding of the United States.
  • (summarize a few of them ) 
  • <<<  Click here to see references >>> (add ref page and link it)

How do you cut through typical arguments and yelling and get to a discussion

  • Arguing from position of authority  –  PHD xyz says abc so it must be true… you can’t possibly understand
  • Binary question – Asserting a question with an implied narrative and dismissing you if you do not accept the entire narrative
    • Do you believe in climate change? (implying the entire narrative: it is existential threat, we have 10 years, mankind is driving it, the US must rework everything immediately,  the govt is the only body who can possibly do it) If you say no or question any element of the narrative you are dismissed as a science denier.  The best way to approach this is to reframe the question: Lets break this down:  Do i believe that the climate is changing – yes,  Is it normal for the climate to change – yes, Are we driving the current change – some of it, but not clear how much, 
  •  Book: Tipping points : How to topple the Left’s house of cards – by Liz Wheeler

Collectivism is 

  • <<<  Click here to see references >>> (add ref page and link it)

Progressive initiatives c

  • You can tell l our leaders in place – Love them, Pray for them. 

Additional Resources

  • He has connected me with some amazing resources. I am highlighting only a few of my favorites here:
    • Jordan Peterson – Psychologist, author, speaker working to reverse the damage already done by the left
    • Candace Owens – Articulate activist working to release the black community from the bonds of modern leftist plantation
    • PragerU – Library of short videos addressing current political hot topics 
    • Liz Wheeler – Articulate author and broadcaster working to expose radical left
    • Denish D’Souza – Conservative movie producer, writer, public speaker working to debunk the left
    • Emmanuel Swedenborg – amazing insight into spiritual world – watch this 101 video

Hope this stuff helps you in some way.

Please let me know if you have suggestions for content or ways to improve the structure of this website.

The Radical Left is a systemic threat

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

The Radical Left is a threat to western society

Become aware, Challenge the narrative, Think for yourself, Take a stand before it is too late

I have been shown that the Radical Left is a material threat to the long term viability of this country and western society. I offer this as information so that others may be aware of this threat, begin to notice it in action all around us, and begin to question the flawed thinking behind it. We need to correct the path we are on while there are still options. 

The progressive agenda as has been quietly working its way into US society for decades. Progressivism is built on a combination of Post modernism and Collectivism. Post-modernism teaches that there is no absolute truth behind our reality; reality is a social construction based on narratives. One conclusion from this thinking is that ALL hierarchical structures in society are oppressive, and those in positions of authority based on this hierarchy are evil (Bosses, Govt officials, The police, etc). Collectivism builds on Post-modernism and puts people into groups based on their immutable characteristics. (Black/White, Male/Female, Gay/Straight, Rich/Poor, etc). It arranges these groups into relationships based on oppression (oppressors vs oppressed). It establishes narratives about people in each group based on high profile incidents. The narratives are preserved by a combination of dismissing input from anyone outside the group and reluctance of those inside the group to make waves (Group think). Individuals in the oppressed group are taught they are victims, and they deserve something from everyone else. Individuals in the oppressor group are told they are evil. If the process is allowed to continue, it plays on our self-centered human nature: victims become convinced they should take what they deserve by whatever means necessary; and the oppressors are dehumanized, subjected to persecution, excommunicated, or even murdered.

The destructive potential of this system of thought is evident in the murder of 100M people by their own governments in the 20th century (Germany, Russia, China). This system of thought is well penetrated in key aspects of the US: it dominates the arts and media, it is deeply entrenched in academia and public education at all levels, it has penetrated portions of industry, large sections of society, and has consumed much of the democratic party.

If you wondered if the US could ever follow the path of Germany or Russia and actually kill its own citizens, just observe the tone and nature of dehumanization exhibited in discussion, the choice of words used In news reports, the tone and nature of demonstrations on college campuses and public protests over the last few decades, the alienation and attacks on dissenting voices, and the nature of protests, intimidation, attacks, and destructive riots going on now.

This entire agenda goes against the Judeo/Christian values this country was built on, and the values required for it to sustain into the future.

  1. There IS absolute truth that can be known: God created the heavens and earth. This is not just blind faith; The more science advances in its various fields, the more it converges on this conclusion.
  2. Putting people into groups based on immutable characteristics and treating them differently is fundamentally wrong. It is a racist approach and is actively creating racism. All men ARE created equal. We need to find any remaining examples of discrimination and stomp them out.
  3. Teaching people that they are victims and deserve something from others is fundamentally wrong. None of us “Deserve” anything. We are to be grateful for everything we have. We each must pick up the cards we are dealt and make the best of it. We must forgive and forget the past. We must lean forward, make good decisions and take responsibility, take initiative, seek opportunities, face challenges, work hard, and thank god every step of the way.
  4. Teaching students to hate the US and to hate themselves is wrong. We now teach students from early stages that: the US is fundamentally flawed; the patriots who founded this country were evil; capitalism is fundamentally evil; Straight white males are evil by birth; if you are not one you are a victim and deserve something. I am all for a balanced view of history, and for addressing instances of discrimination, and encouraging acceptance of all of God’s children, but this is not it; This is cancel culture and destructive.

The Progressive /Radical Left presents itself as  a compassionate and well intentioned force for good.  The problem is the conclusions or proposed actions are based on one or more falsities.

Couple of examples: 

  1.  It would be compassionate for transgender athletes to be included in  sports with the folks they identify with. That may be a compassionate thought, but the proposed action is based on a falsity: that people can choose their sex.  The truth is Genetic Males are Different than Genetic Females. Including Genetic male transgender athletes in woman’s sports can cause severe damage to other individual participants and threatens to completely destroy the sport.
  2. It would be appropriate to lower admission standards for racial caegory y people so that university z achieves a target for participation. This may appear compassioate but it proposes an action based on falsities. a) excellent persons in category y can not otherwise meet the normal standards, b) persons admitted below normal standards would be able to succeed in an environment of peers who have pased higher standards, c) It is better for person x to have attended a great school and fail or struggle to get mediocre grades than for them to attend a good school and be towards the top of the class.  The truth is a) All are created equal, b) Any special treatment by imutable characteristic is inappropriate,  c) Ensuring Equal opportunity is desirable, Forcing equal outcome will create undersired consequence.    

There are certain other political hot button issues where the radical left agenda becomes evident. Click    <<< here >>>    to see a list and some discussion.

This is the lens I have been given to see the world. I see this agenda playing out everywhere I look, and everywhere I see it there is destruction: Destruction of cities, destruction of statues, destruction of businesses, peoples lives and their hopes.

I encourage everyone to think for themselves and to not blindly follow any established narrative or agenda other than what they believe aligns with God’s will. 

Do not accept any narative, work through the data yourself, work through the conclusions being made, work through the options for action based on the conclusions, look for evidence that those options actually produce the desired result, implement the option with the least amount of government intervention possible, and any government intervention should be structured so that it phases out as soon as possible.

Hope this proves helpful.

Have a great day.

May God bless you, and May God bless the USA